Job Ad Annotation Exercise
As you write your resume, cover letter, and other job search related documents for the Job Search Portfolio project, my hope is that you pretend that you’re really applying for a job. By pretending, you’re putting yourself into a “real” writing context—instead of just writing a thing for a class, you should approach this project as if you’re really applying for a job. And when you’re really applying for a job, there are real stakes and real consequences (and not just some grade on project that you’ll forget about in a few days). The stakes are your employment, so what do you want to have happen as a result of your writing in this communication situation? You want to get the job.
To get the job, you’ll have to write documents that speak to what’s in the job advertisement; documents that “prove” you’re an excellent candidate for the position.
If the job ad asks for someone with excellent communication skills, your resume should highlight your communication skills, and your cover letter should explain how you’ve used your excellent communication skills (in some context, for some purpose, to some positive outcome).
If the job ad suggests that teamwork is important and you see variations on the word “collaborate” four times in the advertisement, your resume should use that same language—collaborate—if you’re highlighting your ability to work with others. Your cover letter should discuss your experience working in a team and should mention “collaborate” or “collaborative” somewhere.
Asking you to annotate your job advertisement—asking you to highlight…
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functions, tasks, responsibilities, roles candidate must perform
things a candidate must
be able to do |
tools, products, applications candidate must know how to use
knowledge, expertise, or abilities candidate must have
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attributes, qualities, characteristics, traits candidate should possess
what candidate should
have or should be |
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(often verbs)
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(often nouns)
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(often adjectives)
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…means you’re identifying potential information you’ll need to include in your documents to help you accomplish your purpose.
Annotate your approved job advertisement according to the guidelines below. Color highlighting is appreciated (it’s easier to see), but if you have trouble with color, then use the alternate highlighting (bold, italics, underline) as indicated below.
- You can use the same file you submitted (as long as it was approved)—just make sure the URL where I can find the ad is at the top of the page, and the full text of the advertisement is copied/pasted into the document.
- While it’s not required, if the formatting of your copy/paste is jumbled or missing, I’d appreciate it if you would reformat the text so it’s easier to read (in other words, you could fix weird line/paragraph breaks, make the headings larger, fix bullet points, remove table formatting, etc.—it need not be pretty, just readable. Again, it’s appreciated, but not required).
When you are done, save your annotated job advertisement file as a .docx with the file name “LastName-JobAdAnnotation” and submit by the deadline listed on the Canvas Course Schedule.
My objective in asking you to annotate the job advertisement is for you to identify elements of the rhetorical context. Later, those elements of the rhetorical context will guide how you write your job search documents, what information you include, what order you choose to put it in, what language you use, etc. To be clear, this isn’t a grammar exercise. It’s an exercise in highlighting all the important “stuff” in your ad.
This is a t-ball trophy assignment—assignments submitted correctly(1) and in good faith(2) will receive full credit.
Because is this an “Everything Else” category assignment, late submissions will not be accepted and cannot be made up.
On your job advertisement, highlight in blue (alternately, use bold font):
- job functions, roles, tasks, and/or responsibilities you must be able to perform
- things you must be able to do and/or things you will be asked to do
- these are often—but not always—verbs
| highlighted words & phrases from sample job advertisements |
in other words, the job/employer wants someone
who can…
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| Create quick thumbnail sketches through to finished storyboard panels | …create quick thumbnail sketches and storyboard panels |
| Perform background research to inform the story process | …perform background research that informs the story process |
| Provide administrative support for the Account Management team. This would include routinely entering all campaign information and contacts into PCM and the Account Management Calendar, actualizing budgets and managing the Campaign Hub to ensure information is up to date and well organized. | …provide administrative support
…enter campaign information and contacts …actualize budgets …manage the Campaign Hub |
| Use Excel, GoogleSheets, and/or other spreadsheet applications to record client data, maintain contact information, and mail merge spreadsheet data to create form letters for print (postal mail) and electronic (email) correspondence. | …use Excel, GoogleSheets, and/or other spreadsheet applications
…record client data …maintain contact information …mail merge spreadsheet data …create form letters |
| this column shows what your job ad highlights might look like |
this column shows the words, phrases, and concepts you should consider incorporating into your resume and cover letter
(you can ignore this column for the purposes of the job ad annotation assignment)
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On your job advertisement, highlight in green (alternately, use italics):
- tools, systems, or products you must be able to use, work with, or provide
- products or things you must be able to create or make
- knowledge or expertise you must possess
- these are often—but not always—nouns
| highlighted words & phrases from sample job advertisements |
in other words, the job/employer needs someone who can
create, make, provide, work with, use…
|
| Create quick thumbnail sketches through to finished storyboard panels | create quick thumbnail sketches and storyboard panels |
| Perform background research to inform the story process | perform background research that informs the story process |
| Provide administrative support for the Account Management team. This would include routinely entering all campaign information and contacts into PCM and the Account Management Calendar, actualizing budgets and managing the Campaign Hub to ensure information is up to date and well organized. | provide administrative support
enter campaign information and contacts into PCM and the Account Management Calendar actualize budgets and manage the Campaign Hub to ensure information is up to date |
| Use Excel, GoogleSheets, and/or other spreadsheet applications to record client data, maintain contact information, and mail merge spreadsheet data to create form letters for print (postal mail) and electronic (email) correspondence. | use Excel, GoogleSheets, and/or other spreadsheet applications
record client data, maintain contact information mail merge spreadsheet data to create form letters for print (postal mail) and electronic (email) correspondence |
| this column shows what your job ad highlights might look like |
this column shows the words, phrases, and concepts you should consider incorporating into your resume and cover letter
(you can ignore this column for the purposes of the job ad annotation assignment)
|
On your job advertisement, highlight in yellow (alternately, underline):
- attributes, qualities, traits, and/or characteristics you should possess
- these are often—but not always—adjectives
| highlighted words & phrases from sample job advertisements |
in other words, the job/employer wants someone
who / who is / who has / who can…
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| Ideal candidate will be organized and detail oriented, with the ability to work quickly and collaboratively. | is organized, is detail oriented
can work quickly and collaboratively |
| Must possess strong people skills and project management skills—someone who goes beyond usual approaches to solve problems creatively and think outside the box. | has strong people skills and project management skills
goes beyond usual approaches solves problems creatively and thinks outside the box |
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has excellent written, verbal, interpersonal communication skillscan multi-task, balance competing priorities, and work under tight deadlines
is extremely organized and detail oriented |
| Must be open to direction and able to embrace change; great attitude and strong work ethic preferred. | is open to direction and can embrace change
has great attitude and strong work ethic |
| this column shows what your job ad highlights might look like |
this column shows the words, phrases, and concepts you should consider incorporating into your resume and cover letter
(you can ignore this column for the purposes of the job ad annotation assignment)
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Sample Annotated Job Advertisement
https://snre.arizona.edu/research/wild-cat-conservation/careers/75309
This position is 26.5 hours per week beginning September 5, 2020 through June 9, 2021. You must be available for the full 10-month fellowship. You are available to:
- work 2-3 weekdays (9am to 2:30pm) plus 1-2 weekend days (9am to 5pm) depending on assigned role
- attend a mandatory Education orientation on Saturday, September 15 and on Saturday, October 13
- work weekend Family Overnights on Sept 8-9, Sept 22-23, May 18-19, and June 8-9 and
- have flexibility to work additional weekend programs as they are scheduled
- work until 4:00 on Thursdays in order to attend weekly department staff meetings.
The Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center (WCRCC) works across five Arizona wildlife parks: Phoenix Zoo, Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary, Reid Park Zoo, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and Navajo Nation Zoological and Botanical Park. Our mission is to inspire a diverse and inclusive movement of conservation advocates by sparking connection with animals and nature, enhancing scientific literacy through hands-on investigation, and engaging constituents in stewardship and action to conserve wildlife and wild places.
WCRCC is proud to be an equal opportunity employment workplace dedicated to pursuing and hiring a diverse workforce. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive work and learning environment and look for future team members who share that same value.
The Wild Cat Conservation Education Fellowship (WCCEF) program is a unique opportunity for young professionals (currently enrolled in college or recently graduated) to: explore the field of education at an informal science institution as part of a team; develop a learning action plan to support their professional growth as an educator; and, complete a professional teaching portfolio to document their pedagogy skills.
You will work part-time at the Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center’s (WCRCC) Phoenix Zoo as a member of the Research & Education Department team. You will support the WCS Phoenix Zoo in facilitating educational experiences that inspire a love of wildlife and wild places for school and/or family and children groups. You will acquire skills to welcome diverse learners, interests, and backgrounds and foster student-directed learning while learning pertinent information about wildlife conservation issues with a global impact. You will shadow and teach under the supervision of full-time Conservation Educators, as well as, train with the Phoenix Zoo’s tractable animal collection. After a period of time, you will begin teaching and developing curriculum independently.
You will develop a Learning Action Plan to set and achieve goals with the support of a mentor. You will participate in ongoing professional development workshops to learn about informal education theory and practice by experienced WCRCC Research Education department and other WCRCC department staff. You will leave the program with extensive experience teaching and developing programming for a variety of audiences, with a completed professional teaching portfolio to document your skills.
There are two WCCEF program tracts to participate in:
- School Group Program Focus: This position will focus primarily on experience with PreK-12th grade students, including involvement with our Teacher Advisory Council, standards-based learning and partnership schools.
- Children & Family Program Focus: This position will focus primarily on experience with children and family audiences, including Zoo Play, birthday parties, Zoo Camp and breakfast series programs.
Exemplary WCCEFs will be invited to stay for the 2021 summer season during June, July and August.
- Teach on-site school and family programs as assigned by Education department
- Assist with teaching of weekend general audience programs, including birthday
- Assist instructional staff with review and revisions of school and family programs as needed.
- Assist instructional staff in the development and creation of materials for school and general audience programs.
- Get trained on and present animals from the Zoo’s tractable animal collection, following all policy and procedure as indicated by Education Tractable Collection
- Participate in all staff professional development meetings.
- Comply with all policies and procedures as presented by WCS and the Bronx Zoo Education
Education:
- Currently enrolled college student or recent college graduate. An educational focus in ecology, environmental science, or education preferred
Experience:
- Less than 2 years experience working with children or in an informal education
Knowledge & Skills:
- Interested in informal education and working with children and families
- Strong verbal communication skills to help interpret science concepts in both an informal classroom setting and at zoo exhibits
- Ability to work within a highly team oriented environment
- Reliable, flexible and accountable
- Possess a driver’s license (preferred)
Do This / Don’t Do That
 ✓
This is great! Annotations are strategic, and the text is readable.
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 ✓
This is great, too! Individual words and short phrases are in different color fonts to indicate different elements, and the text is readable.
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 ✗
While it appears that someone annotated this correctly (words and phrases), the blue and green highlighting is so dark as to make the text either difficult or impossible to read. Please don’t do this.
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 ✗
The text is readable, but someone didn’t annotate correctly. Highlighting giant chunks—whole sentences and nearly entire paragraphs—is incorrect and lazy.
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